1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to hybrid contact lenses. More particularly, the present invention relates to hybrid hard-soft contact lenses having central zones with a base curve and peripheral skirt zones with varying skirt radii.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vision correction is on the verge of a revolution. New technologies to measure the aberrations or distortions in the optics of the eye will soon be available to the public. These new wavefront measurement techniques such as Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensing or Talbot Interferometry can precisely measure the eye's aberrations so that vision may be corrected up to 20/10. Wavefront sensing is the method for rapidly, and very accurately, assessing the aberrations in an individual's eye to create a customized prescription for correction.
However, once the eye's aberrations have been measured, either by conventional methods or by wavefront sensing, these measurements must then be transferred into a vision correction system such as eye surgery, spectacles, or contact lenses. Recent advances in laser refractive surgery techniques such as LASIK and photorefractive keratectomy, as well as improvements in spectacle lens manufacturing now enable the creation of highly accurate corrective prescriptions for individuals.
However, this is not the case with contact lenses. Popular soft contact lenses cannot achieve the same result as spectacles or laser refractive surgery because of dimensional variations in fabrication. Hard contact lenses, which may provide the platform to achieve the results of spectacles, are not as comfortable as soft contacts and lack the necessary positional stability on the eye.
Hybrid hard-soft contact lenses comprising a hard center portion and a relatively soft outer skirt have been developed to provide a platform for a corrective prescription and also provide the comfort of soft contact lenses. One drawback associated with such hybrid hard-soft contact lenses concerns a lack of a smooth transition between the soft and hard portions. Another drawback involves a lack of bonding strength between the soft and hard portions.
Hybrid contact lenses having a rigid center and a soft peripheral skirt were commercialized previously. However, the only commercialized hybrid contact lens products have a design where the rigid center portion has a spherical base curve defined by a base curve radius, and the outer skirt has a skirt radius that is a constant amount longer than the base curve radius. That is, for more than 20 years, available hybrid contact lens designs have had one skirt radius for a given base curve radius. For example, standard hybrid contact lenses generally have a skirt radius approximately 1.3 mm larger than the base curve radius of the contact lens. Additionally, hybrid contact lenses designs for eyes in keratoconus generally have a skirt radius approximately 1.5 mm larger than the base curve radius of the contact lens. However, there is a wide distribution of corneal geometric diversity in the population of eyes intended for treatment with contact lenses. For example, the sagittal depth of naturally occurring normal corneas varies as a function of the apical radius of curvature, eccentricity, overall corneal diameter and radius of curvature of the sclera. Moreover, the cornea in keratoconus is highly aspheric and asymmetrical. Further, post-surgical corneas generally have a central portion that is relatively flat compared to the peripheral portions of the cornea. Conventional contact lenses for post-surgical corneas generally have a radius of curvature that is shorter than the skirt or peripheral radius of curvature. However, such lenses make the lathing process more complicated and provide an abrupt or pronounced junction between the rigid central portion and the soft peripheral portion, which may generate discomfort in a user wearing the lenses. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved hybrid contact lens design to better fit the diverse population of eyes intended for treatment with contact lenses.